By Dan McHardie
Centretown is a very political area. The Parliament buildings are located within the boundaries, which serve as a gathering point for Canadians from sea to sea who make the trek to Ottawa. However, it’s important to question how well this very political jurisdiction is represented.
The short answer is residents are effective at the community level, but once elected officials make their way to Queen’s Park or down the road to Parliament Hill, things start to change.
The municipal politicians — Mayor Jim Watson, city Coun. Elisabeth Arnold, and regional Coun. Diane Holmes — have individually left their mark on the area, albeit their legacies aren’t stellar.
Arnold and Holmes have both been socially active individuals and devoted their time in office to helping the disadvantaged, a very noble cause.
However, both politicians aren’t without their detractors, and rightfully so. Centretown residents need more than just a couple one-trick ponies, especially when both know the same trick. The business community, especially, has felt slighted by the two politicians over the years.
A legacy of being a nice person will fill news pages throughout one’s term, but suffice to say, historians will quickly forget the names of the Centretown officials.
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson is an enigma of sorts. Watson is famous for attending the opening of an envelope. Anywhere a crowd forms, Ottawa’s mayor is bound to make an appearance. Yet, Watson is hurting his legacy.
When the biggest fight of his life arises — the battle for the new Ottawa mayor — he will be noticeably absent. But despite cowardly ducking the challenge, he will be remembered for his time in office.
Watson, Arnold and Holmes can rest assured they will leave a much larger mark than their federal and provincial counterparts. Local MPP Richard Patten and federal MP Mac Harb both find themselves outside the circle of power. Patten at least can hope for a cabinet post if the Liberals can ever seize control at Queen’s Park.
The same cannot be said for Harb.
The federal Liberals have been in power since 1993, and Harb was first elected in 1988. Yet, Centretown has seen little action from its MP. It is often said, one can assess how much power a politician has by where they sit in relation to the prime minister. Harb sits in the very last desk in the front row in the House of Commons.
Not only is his desk assignment a low priority for Prime Minister Jean Chretien, it has been widely speculated Harb will be pushed out of his seat so Chretien’s former patronage queen Penny Collenette — who is married to Transport Minister David Collenette — can get herself into Parliament.
The current MP says he isn’t going anywhere, but if Chretien was conspiring to get a close friend into the Commons, Harb would be the last to know.
When political clout is measured by cabinet posts, it’s clear Harb and Patten aren’t wielding much if any power when they leave the constituency office. So the question that begs to be asked: Are they doing the job in the riding? A very busy social schedule doesn’t mean one is effective.
While neither politician should be completely discounted, they shouldn’t be holding their breath to have a park or a school named after them.
In the end, Centretown citizens shouldn’t be concerned their voices are failing to be heard. But when they look around and see what their politicians have done, perhaps the hard questions need to be posed to the local representatives.